The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, will commission the first phase of the reconstruction of the Appiatse community in the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipality of the Western Region on Thursday May 2, 2024.

The project which started two years ago consists of 124 housing units ranging from two to seven-bedroom houses, kindergarten, six – unit classroom blocks with sanitation facilities and the construction of roads within the community.

The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Prestea Huni-Valley, Dr Isaac Dasmani, disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) and said each of the houses would have access to electricity and potable drinking water.

He reiterated that the Vice President would come and symbolically hand over the keys and then time would be taken to allocate each of them before the beneficiaries finally move in.

He said “the explosion affected about 124 thatched houses, and we have taken care of that. The second phase of the project includes those who had the roof of their buildings affected. Government has given each of the victim’s money to do their repairs”

Due to the new expansion, a third phase of the project has emerged because about 68 people got affected when the contractors graded the area to make way for the project.

Work on the third phase would soon commence as the contract is being awarded”

Dr Dasmani said to ease pressure on the assembly, after the commissioning some of the victims would be moved from their temporary accommodation back to the community, and then the 68 victims would be taken to the camp as they await the completion of their buildings.

He expressed his profound appreciation to the government and all stakeholders for the massive support given to the residents of Appiatse since they recorded the unfortunate incident.

So far sixteen people have died from the accident, with twelve others having metals lodged in their bodies, but medical professionals have explained that they would eventually recover, said the MCE

The Appiatse community was razed down on Thursday January 20, 2022, when a truck carrying explosives to a mining site exploded in the community.

The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, after conducting investigations into the matter, imposed a fine of six million United States dollars on Maxim Ghana Limited, the company responsible for the transportation of the explosives.

The government also pledged to reconstruct the Appiatse community into a modern, green, and sustainable community as a model for rural development.

An Appiatse support fund was therefore established to, among others, support the reconstruction of the community, while temporary accommodation was provided for the victims who were affected by the accident.

Source: GNA